The Testaments

Atwood, Margaret

Language: English

Publisher: Random House

Published: Sep 10, 2019

My Rating: 5
Date read: Oct 20, 2019
GR Shelf: read

Description:

* THE SUNDAY TIMES* NO. 1 BESTSELLER
* SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 BOOKER PRIZE
* AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4

*
Margaret Atwood’s dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid’s Tale* , is a modern classic. Now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel.
More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale , the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results. Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets. As Atwood unfolds The Testaments , she opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes. ‘Dear Readers: Everything you’ve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we’ve been living in.' Margaret Atwood ‘The literary event of the year.’ Guardian ‘A savage and beautiful novel, and it speaks to us today, all around the world, with particular conviction and power… The bar is set particularly high for Atwood and she soars over it’ Peter Florence, Booker Prize Chair of Judges, Guardian

Review

“A chilling invitation no Atwood fan can resist . . .  The Testaments reminds us of the power of truth in the face of evil.
People

“Margaret Atwood’s powers are on full display . . . 
Everyone should read The Testaments.
Los Angeles Times

A fast, immersive narrative that’s as propulsive as it is melodramatic.”
—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

The Testaments is worthy of the literary classic it continues. That’s thanks in part to Atwood’s capacity to surprise, even writing in a universe we think we know so well.”
USA Today

The women of Gilead are more fascinating than ever.
—NPR

There may be no novelist better suited to tapping the current era’s anxieties than Margaret Atwood.
Entertainment Weekly

Powerful, revealing, and engaging.
—Boston Globe


A rare treat**  . . . a corker of a plot, culminating in a breathless flight to freedom.”
—Laura Miller, Slate.com

About the Author

Margaret Atwood , whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. In addition to  The Handmaid’s Tale , now an award-winning TV series, her novels include  Cat’s Eye , short-listed for the 1989 Booker Prize;  Alias Grace , which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy;  The Blind Assassin , winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; The MaddAddam Trilogy; and  Hag-Seed. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. She lives in Toronto with the writer Graeme Gibson.